Tuesday, July 17, 2007

A Family Tradition

Click to enlargeMargaret House Eaton was the first family member to fly in the 1920s. Cy's mother is a story unto herself. Her father was a doctor in Cleveland Ohio who rode with Sherman in the Civil War. She was an adventuress, flier, world traveler, butterfly collector, painter, early adherent of the emerging and controversial science of psychiatry and, not incidently, mother of seven.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Karl "Charly" Willius

Aces of the Luftwaffe lists the 50 victories of “Charly” Willius in 371 missions. On July 30, 1943 he is credited with downing a B-26 of the 386 Bomb Group northwest of Antwerp.

On 8 April 1944, Willius made a head-on attack against a formation of USAAF B-24 four-engine bombers. His target dropped out of formation in flames and became his 50th, and last, victory. The Fw 190s climbed back into the sun following their attack. As they were reforming, USAAF P-47 fighters bounced them. Willius’ Fw 190 A-8 (W.Nr. 170 009) “Black 5” was seen to spin into the ground and explode. His body was not recovered until 1967, buried in his aircraft in a Dutch polder. Willius was awarded a posthumous Ritterkreuz on 9 June and promotion to the rank of Oberleutnant.

Monday, May 08, 2006

B-26 Cut-Away View

Often overshadowed by larger four-engine heavy bombers like the B-17 and the B-24, the B-26 Marauder was designed as a medium bomber to strike bridges, rail depots, and ships. Powered by two 18-cylander, 2,000-hp Pratt & Whitney engines, the B-26 typically had a crew of six and a maximum bomb load of 4,000 pounds. The combination of small wingspan and heavy weight made the marauder a tricky airplane to fly, but on opeational missions it had the lowest loss rate of all combat aircraft in Europe.

This cut-away view of the B-26 Marauder by John Batchelor appeared in the July 1994 issue of AIR & SPACE (Smithsonian) magazine supporting the article "Did He Say 500 Feet?" This scan comes from the back cover of "The Crusaders" a publication of the 386th Bomb Group Association.